


castle

by spookyjoshler



Series: badlands [1]
Category: Fall Out Boy, Halsey (Musician), New Politics, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: F/F, M/M, badlands au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 11:45:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6752626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyjoshler/pseuds/spookyjoshler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>these are the badlands. the people suffer. it’s an inescapable wasteland; you’re either shot down or starved out once you’re past the city limits. the aristocracy controls center city’s nightlife. they are fattened on lust and luxury, gold dripping from their silken tipped fingers. outsiders go hungry. they are disgusting, with bruised eyes and blackened lips and dirt they can never scrape from under their fingernails. they scrabble for backdoor drugs, brown paper bags filled with distilled vodka, and anything else their grimy hands can settle for. however, the rebellion has begun. the people will be freed from the grasp of the badlands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. crooked teeth and the nightlife

josh wakes up to the acrid scent of the underground. this is nothing new. for two years he’s lived in the thick of the rebellion, sparking it to what it is now; a raging inferno. he tugs on worn combat boots, dirty from prowling the streets of center city during late night watches. after unsuccessfully trying to scrub off the layer of grime that coats his body and everything he wears, he heads towards the control room. ashley is there already, perusing through different plans and maps of the axis, the main hub of the upper class. she smiles at him and he can see the purple under her eyes. she slides a steaming mug of coffee towards him. it’s one of the few luxuries they still have. 

 

“what’s the plan?” he asks her.

 

she runs a hand through electric blue hair and pulls a sheet of paper in front of her. “you’re going to combat training until ten. we have a couple new recruits that arrived last night and need to start to get in shape. you and andy will be running it. after that i want you to meet me around ten thirty in the commons for some debriefing.” 

 

josh nods and heads back to his room with his coffee. ashley doesn’t follow. he worries about her often. she disappears for days at a time and nobody will attempt to follow her to see where she goes. they respect her that much. josh shrugs it off, knowing that if ashley wants him to know she’ll tell him. he chugs the rest of his coffee, grabs his id card, and heads to morning training. 

 

the underground used to be old subway systems that fell into disuse after the second civil war. organizers of the rebellion converted it into a hub for training and housing to keep their fellow soldiers safe. aristocracy officers usually stick to center city with about a 5 mile perimeter outside the city. they don’t dare venture into the badlands because they know they’re at the mercy of the bourgeoisie, turned savage through hunger and want. 

 

josh finishes training with andy, a successful endeavor in his opinion. he heads to the commons where the commanders are collecting on the raggedy couches and chairs. ashley is perched on the edge of a musty yellowed ottoman, filing through notes. he greets dallon, their double agent and david from connections. 

 

“everyone here? okay let’s start. so, it’s come to my attention that officers are starting to snoop around a bit more. last week a civilian near our hub was stopped, which is way past their usual perimeter. we may also need to talk about relocation. dallon, any news?” ashley notes.

 

“the josephs are plotting their move against the rebellion. i’d like to take a small company with me into the city tomorrow morning. maybe two or three others, i need to gather intel that i can’t do alone.” 

 

ashley nods. “take josh and max with you. they can blend in easily and i expect you to help them to prep for that. you might want to go tonight though, you’ve been away for a while and i don’t want people to get suspicious. especially not the joseph family.” 

 

“nowhere within a 200 mile radius to relocate. they have patrols stationed at the border of the badlands to make sure there isn’t anyone trying to escape. it’s too risky. we just have to keep a better eye on the civilians.”

 

\------------------------------------------

 

josh goes through his routine for the rest of the day; patrol duty, combat, and attendance and room inspections. dallon grabs him at one point in the evening and pulls him into his room. it’s significantly less dusty than josh’s and there’s an actual shower in the adjoining bathroom. max is already there, looking cleaner and more uncomfortable in one of dallon’s suits than josh has ever seen him. dallon nudges josh towards the shower, a similar suit already laid out on the bed for him when he’s finished. 

 

he adjusts the starchy collar digging into his neck and dallon shoots him a dirty look. dallon’s a lot taller with a slightly thinner build than josh and it’s tight in weird places. they head out of the complex in dallon’s car and towards center city.  

 

the electric glow of the city still stuns josh even though the people are greedy and sick on luxuries the civilians don’t have. dallon leads them through the winding streets lit by neon signs hanging in shop windows. men and women, dressed in formal wear nod towards dallon as they head for clubs or bars. josh and max marvel at the all-glass building they arrive at. 

 

two women greet dallon at the door. one giggles and says something about braden or a similar name,  josh can’t hear that well over the booming music. he follows dallon in sheepishly. everything is just excessive. the neon lights bounce off the beautiful glass art hanging from the ceiling and lavish furniture decorates the halls. dallon leads them into a ballroom with high ceilings and crowds of well dressed people. 

 

“i’m gonna take max with me to snoop around and get into some of the tech. find jenna black, i sent you a picture of her. she’s your best bet at getting closer to the josephs. if anyone asks, your name is anything but joshua dun. good luck, we’ll rendezvous at 1:45 in the entrance hall.” dallon mutters into josh’s ear.

 

he sets off, checking his phone for the picture of jenna. josh is scrolling through images of the blonde when he bumps into someone, spilling their drink all over josh, effectively ruining dallon’s shirt. he’s ready to punch this person when he looks up and sees  _ tyler joseph _ . 

 

“sorry ‘bout that. can i help you clean up?” tyler asks coolly, a slight lilt in his voice that draws josh in. 

 

he nods dumbly, letting the lanky brunet lead him over to a table adorned with various hors d'oeuvres and expensive alcohol. he swipes a cloth napkin and starts to blot josh’s pink-stained shirt. 

 

“haven’t seen you around before, where ya from? we usually don’t get new money around here.” 

 

josh flushes. “ah, yeah. new money… i’m from the west. just here to scope out conditions in the midwest division and report back.” he lies fluidly.

 

tyler’s brown eyes bore into josh curiously. “oh really? what’s your name? i might know a family member or something.” 

 

he begins to panic. tyler keeps staring at him and he knows he’s gonna blow it. “john. i don’t think you’d know any of them, they’re kinda low level government workers. you’re tyler joseph, right?”

 

tyler flashes a polite smile and nods at him. crisis averted. they chat idly before tyler slips back into the crowd to mingle. he goes through the rest of the night smiling. dallon and max meet josh at exactly 1:45. dallon narrows his eyes at the stain on his shirt but doesn’t question it otherwise. they head back to the underground, the entire ride in silence. 

  
  
  
  



	2. should probably keep my pretty mouth shut

ashley sits down across from the small party after they return from the trip. josh crosses his legs nervously, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. he’s not sure how they’ll react. ashley is the first to speak.

“first order of business; dallon. how did it go?”

“i got what i needed. the whole security system is wired by the urie family and it could take a couple weeks to shut it down, but it’ll work according to plan. max has the code in his phone and is going to work with melanie to program a virus to break it. we sent josh to find jenna, i’ll let him tell you how it went.”

josh fidgets nervously, ashley’s eyes burning into his forehead. “i never actually found jenna. i don’t know if she was there but you’ll never guess who i ran into, heh.” josh adds with a chuckle, trying to lighten the tension.

when there’s no response, he continues. “tyler joseph.”

there’s a too long, too awkward silence that follows. he can see a few people shifting uncomfortably and an unreadable look on ashley’s face.

“meeting adjourned. josh, follow me. we need to talk.” ashley says simply.

the rest of the people disperse slowly. josh nods and follows her to her room, an old subway car repurposed for living conditions. he sits down on the hastily made cot and waits.

“first of all, what the fuck josh? you can’t just bump into fucking tyler joseph and not tell anyone! he knows your face now and we could very well be up shit’s creek here.” ashley whispers angrily, giving josh a shove on the shoulder.

“well i couldn’t exactly whip out my phone and be all, _oh hey dallon! i’m here with the son of the assholes who control everyone’s waking move and would very much like to squash us like ants, you get me?”_

ashley paces angrily, unsure what to say next. josh has her hands tied. “guess you’ll have to go back regularly. he thinks you’re new money right? you didn’t tell him your real name or anything right?”

josh shakes his head.

“good. now get the hell out of my room, dun.” she says with a saccharine smile.

he returns it with an equally sarcastic smile and a mock-salute.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

the next morning josh wakes up with a steady hum in the back of his head. he didn’t have much to drink, but all of the events that had occurred, combined with only a few hours of sleep gives him a nasty headache. on the way to medical, he bumps into max, the nervous tech intern who came to the party.

he flashes a weak smile towards josh. “morning commander dun, how are you today?”  
“got a hell of a headache from last night, other than that, terrible. you?”

josh’s answer makes max flush deeply. “g-good sir, sorry to hear, um, about that.” he stutters.

josh pats the boy on the shoulder briefly and continues on his way. the hum has grown to a faint roar and he really hopes they still have painkillers. medical ran out of cough syrup last flu season.

“how’s my favorite redhead?”

“what do you want dun? you’re never in here.” hayley, the med tech asks.

“need painkillers. was out on a mission and i woke up with a headache and i’m pretty sure it's manifesting into a migraine.”

hayley beckons him in and sits him down while beginning to check his vitals. “heart-rate’s a bit slow, reflexes are a bit slow, normal temperature… are you hungover? you smell like booze. god, i haven’t had booze in forever. i miss it. remember when booze wasn’t restricted for only the rich people? this war fuckin’ destroyed everything good in the world.”

“hey, hayley, back on track.” josh interjects.

“sorry. anyways, i can’t just give out my stash, i don’t have much left and unless you want to go out and get some for me in center city, none for you.”

“i’ll get whatever you need and i’ll clear it with ashley. just give me the damn medicine.”

she hands him a tiny pill and half a cup of slightly foggy water. they had picked hayley up early on and she seemed to have a natural ability with medicine, so they kept her around. josh gets a list from hayley of what supplies she needs and heads towards ashley’s room, to brave the beast.

“knock, knock.”

he can hear ashley groan from inside. “come in!”, she calls.

“i’m going on a supply run today in center city. hayley needs more bandages and medicine.”

ashley sits up, narrowing her eyes. “we can use old shirts as bandages. i think we’re good on medicine, keegan did inventory two days ago.”

josh runs a hand through his hair. “i’ll be quick. i’ll be back by sundown and if anything goes wrong i’ll let you know ASAP. trust me ash, i can do this.” he pleads with her.  
“well, it’s clearly important to you for some unknown reason. if you don’t come back before sundown and you don’t have supplies, you’re in for an interrogation through the council. you know the rules josh. and do not even think about going searching for tyler joseph. we are handling this as a team, i don’t need you going off by yourself unless i say so. we all know how well that went for patrick.”

josh shudders. patrick stump, their tactician, went out on a supply run one day and and never came back the same. a rumor went around that he was tortured for information, but he refused to talk about anything that happened.

he borrows dallon’s car and a collared shirt and heads out for the city. all he can think about is the soulfulness in tyler’s eyes and the way his slender fingers pressed flat against his chest. not that it’s a crush or anything, josh isn’t about love.

josh had been in the city alone before, a few years back when he was younger and unskilled and it was just ashley and him, the two roaming the city early in the morning to loot drunken partygoers on their last leg. that was when things weren’t as controlled and life was better, if only for a while.


End file.
